Listen To Me

Chapter 19

Visitors trooped in and out of the Osasere house. They all came with gifts to welcome Hope from the hospital and to wish her a speedy recovery. Hope was almost blinded by their smiles, most of which were fake.

The news of the Osaseres almost being scammed and Hope's harassment had spread around the neighborhood by Mama Unique's friends. They said it was a slip of the tongue. People sneered at us in secret. Let me see how they will continue to be proud, some said.

Hope had never been more embarrassed in her life. She heard people talk about her everywhere she went. She could feel numerous gazes crawling down her body. It made her uneasy.

Hope stood and approached her father. She took permission to leave the gathering with the excuse that she was tired which he granted. She released a sigh of relief when she shut her bedroom door. She went to her bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She raised her head and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a ghost. Her fair face was pale like there was not a drop of blood in her body.

On further inspection, she noticed that the minor glass cuts on her face and neck were almost fully healed. Some had formed blisters. The doctor told her that they would not scar and she was glad. It would have been terrible if she had a scar on her face.

Hope cringed when she tried to stand up straight. She touched her stomach, she felt the bandage underneath her shirt. This was the most serious injury on her. The one that would scar. During the collision, metal scraps from the car pierced her abdomen, wedging itself between her delicate skin. The pain was agonizing.

She slowly walked back to her room and carefully laid on her bed. She could hear the light chatter of the guests from her room. She blocked their voices out.

Hope stared at the ceiling of her dimly lit room as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was frustrated that she could not release all the rage and resentment that was bottled up within her. She wanted to break something but she could not for fear that she would open her wounds if she did anything strenuous.

It was all mummy's fault, Hope thought. She was the one who introduced Mr. Edosa into their life without doing a background check first. She was the one who pushed Hope to Efe's trap. She was the one who told Hope to endure. At the end of the day, all her suffering was for nothing. She would have never forgiven her mother if Efe had succeeded in raping her.

The last straw was when Mama Unique told her friends everything and they disseminated it around the neighborhood. Why did she have to blabber to those two-faced women? Now her life was in jeopardy. Hope could not raise her head in public. She did not want to be referred to as 'the girl that was almost raped'.

Hope was still crying when she heard a knock on the door. She quickly wiped her tears as the door was pushed open by Unique, "Hope, your classmates are here to see you."

Hope groaned softly in reluctance, "I don't want to see anyone. I want to be alone."

"But they came all this way to see you. You can at least say hello." Unique insisted.

"I don't want to." Unique sighed in resignation and left.

Hope was about to prepare herself to fall asleep when she heard another knock at the door, she grunted loudly this time, "I don't want to talk to anybody." She yelled but the door was pushed open anyway.

"Good afternoon to you too." Hope lifted her head when she heard his voice. Damilare's eyes were skimming through her room. She sighed before attempting to prop herself up but the action tugged at her wounds. She grimaced in pain.

Damilare, seeing her discomfort, quickly rushed to her aid and helped her sit up, "What are you doing here?" Hope asked as soon as she could catch her breath.

Damilare gave her a lopsided smile, "I came to see you, of course." He said as he covered her exposed legs with a blanket, "But I was so sad when Unique told us you were asleep, so I came to see for myself."

Hope rolled her eyes making Damilare laugh, "So, I was told you locked yourself in your room all week and refused to talk to anybody."

"Who told you that? It was Unique, wasn't it?"

"It does not matter, you should not do that to yourself. People are worried about you."

Hope scoffed, "No one is worried about me. It is all pretense." She murmured, bowing her head, "I hear what they whisper about me."

"Ignore them and focus on the ones who really care about you. Many people came to visit you today because they genuinely care. The whole class is here." Damilare told her, "Do not punish all of them from seeing you because of the crimes of a few people."

Hope smiled at his words but she was not convinced, "What if they came here to laugh at me as well?" She asked, referring to her classmates.

"They did not," Damilare reassured her. Hope nodded. Damilare smiled, "You guys can come in now." He yelled and the door was pushed open. Gladys came in first and trailing behind her was Tony. One after another, her whole class filtered into her room even Kyla and Maris came, all of them with a gift in their hands. Thankfully, her room contained all thirty-two of them.

Hope suddenly felt overwhelming emotions. She could not stop the tears that poured from her eyes.

"Is Hope Osasere crying?" Damilare teased.

Hope sniffed and wiped her tears, "Shut up." This incited laughter from everyone in the room.

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Happy Monday, everyone.